Abomination
by RixxiSpooks
Summary: Neela is the victim of a verbal racial attack; Ray is there to help her but what consequences could it have on their lives? Reela. Warning: child abuse.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I dont own any of the characters except the ones I created. I don't mean any offense by any racist language in here. Its all fiction.**

**Intro: This is set three years into the future. Ray has his legs. Ray and Neela are married. Um...Moretti doesn't exist, its mostly the cast from season 13.**

Neela sighed resignedly as she was handed yet another chart: abdominal pains. Pratt claimed this was the last one and then she could finally go for a break – she'd been on for the last thirty six hours, it was ridiculous, they were interns' hours not a resident who was over thirty.

"Please Neela," he'd practically begged and she, much to her shame, had caved.

"All right, but then I need some food. What time is it by the way?"

"Er…" Greg glanced at his watch, "Six-thirty. Thanks, Neela, you're a life saver." He offered her one of his huge, winning grins and hurried off.

"Don't mention it," she muttered to herself before heading to Exam 3 where her patient was waiting.

She looked through the glass pane in the door on her way in and saw a youngish man, maybe in his late twenties, early thirties sitting alone on a hospital bed. There were no nurses in the room but that didn't surprise her considering there were patients overflowing into the hallways. This guy was lucky to get a room.

Pushing open the door, Neela walked briskly into the room, immediately going into doctor mode, her mind whirring with the possibilities of what abdominal pain could mean.

"Get out!" came a loud screech and the small woman jumped, severely startled. She looked up to see the man and she was suddenly struck with fear at the way he was glaring at her as if she were the worst thing imaginable.

"Excuse me, sir," Neela managed to get a few words out of her mouth despite her shock.

"Didn't you hear me the first time you filthy bitch? Get out! I don't want your kind anywhere near me. I already told that nurse."

"My kind?" the resident frowned, confused and a little angry at the way the man was being so rude and abrasive.

"Yeah, you brown lot. I see you on the street and I wanna kill you all. You're a stain on the planet and you should be destroyed. You are scum; you should have all been drowned at birth."

Neela understood the man's attitude now and it filled her with cold hatred. He shouldn't be allowed to speak to anyone that way. He had no right to accuse her of being filthy because of her skin colour. That had died out years ago and she hadn't met anyone ever quite so blunt and outward about their views. The man was a racist.

"Sir, I'm only here to help," she began again but he just yelled at her, his eyes swirling with loathing and contempt. The young woman got slightly worried as he climbed out of bed and began advancing on her, "Sir, would you sit back down, please."

* * *

Ray was rifling through the chart rack, trying to find one that didn't involve the spewing of bodily fluids from either end of the body all over him. He had already had one kid go through his first change of clothes after throwing up on him and then another woman had thrown a cup of coffee at him. The reason for that he couldn't quite remember. Now Ray had no spare clothes left in his locker and several angry scalds on his arms.

It was about then, as he was wavering between a swollen testicle and an inflamed eye, when he heard shouting from a nearby exam room. He turned round, alerted by the angry edge to the voice and saw Neela through the glass window in the door. She looked frightened.

Immediately the young doctor darted forward and tugged open the door. He was met with an anxious looking Neela and a patient that was advancing on her.

"Hey, man, what are you doing?" he queried, taking hold of the Indian woman's arm gently, offering support.

"Get that bitch away from me! I don't want her touching me. I want a white doctor!" the man shrieked.

Ray frowned at that last statement. A white doctor? He linked the pieces together and came to the conclusion that this guy was a racist. It was obvious to him that Neela had never encountered such an unsavoury, hostile character and he wanted to comfort her. She was, after all, his wife. To do so, Ray brought his arm around her in a half embrace and whispered softly in her ear.

"You okay, honey? He didn't hurt you did he?" Neela shook her head and glanced for a second at Ray, the man she loved most in the world, before returning her gaze to the man on the bed.

"Ergh! That's disgusting. How can you touch her? How can you get that close?" the patient spat, an expression of repulsion on his face. He caught the look that passed between the two doctors and something clicked in his brain. "Oh my God! You're together. That's sick, man, so sick! It makes me wanna hurl just thinking about it. Don't blemish yourself with scum like her."

"Dude, calm it or I'll have to get security," Ray growled, stepping forward, ready to protect Neela.

"Ray, leave it," Neela held him back however, there was nothing good that could come of Ray beating a patient up on her behalf, "We'll get someone else."

"Yeah, you do that, I don't want either of you two near me. You're contaminated."

"Sure, sir," Ray grimaced and left the room with Neela just in front of him.

"I'll get Morris and maybe a psyche consult," the British woman said, moving off to find the attending.

"Okay, you sure you're all right though?" the man asked, placing a hand in the small of her back.

"Ah-huh," Neela nodded and headed off. She really needed that break.

* * *

"Hey, Ray, there is somebody small, loud and annoying here to see you," Frank's voice rang out across admit and Ray looked up to see a flustered looking woman with a little girl in her arms.

"Angie," he stated, hurrying over to greet the nanny of his child, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, Ray, I have to go. Neela was supposed to come back hours ago but she must've got held up and I need to catch my flight to Seattle. I've fed her and she has all her night stuff here but I really gotta go."

"Thanks Angie, it's okay, you've been working way to much overtime for us anyway. You're practically part of the family. Here, give her to me," Ray reached out and took the small child into his arms.

"Daddy!" she yelped, grabbing him round the neck and hugging him tightly.

"Hey, kiddo." Ray grinned at his daughter as she stared up at him with huge, chocolate brown eyes. They were exact replicas of her mother's.

"Missed you," the girl declared and cuddled him closer.

"Me too," Ray said before taking the bag of things from Angie and bidding her goodbye. He was left standing in admit with his three year old daughter, no Neela and he still had another four hours on shift.

Just at that moment, Sam appeared at the nurses' station looking anxious, they'd just had another influx of patients and she was down two nurses due to a virus.

"Hi, Sam, would you mind getting Molly up to day-care and seeing if it's still open? Thanks." Ray pushed the child towards the nurse and hurried off.

"Hey, Ray, I'm a little busy here! Damn it!" Sam sighed and looked at Molly who was perched on the edge of the desk. The kid was looking slightly puzzled as to why her father had vanished so quickly. A few tears were welling in her eyes and Sam groaned, begging the child not to start crying.

"Sam! I have three traumas coming in. I need you," Luka's voice called from where he was wheeling a patient through the double doors.

The nurse looked around for someone who could mind Molly but only found Frank. He would have to do.

"Frank, look after Molly, will you? Get an orderly to take her up to day-care."

"I don't want the munchkin!" Frank shouted after the nurse's retreating back but she ignored him.

* * *

The man who had given Neela so much grief was called Henry Butcher and he was watching the exchange between all the staff closely. There were so many coloured people in this hospital it made him sick. His father had always taught him that they were below society and should be treated no better than rats.

When the two doctors had left he'd studied admit for awhile and seen a small girl being brought in. She was brown skinned like that British doctor but had the face shape of the male doctor and he guessed that she was the kid of the two of them. In his eyes that was wrong. She was an abomination and should have been killed as soon as she was out of the womb. White and black people shouldn't breed it was disgusting. They needed to be taught a lesson. Henry decided he would be the one to teach them that lesson.

* * *

"'scuse me, I was sent down here to pick up a kid," a voice said and Frank barely looked up from his computer screen, he was too busy looking up some guy he'd spotted that looked like a well known criminal.

"Oh, that was quick, yeah, she's right there," the old man pointed to Molly who was currently sucking her thumb and clutching a soft frog that he'd pulled from her bag for her, "Don't forget her bag."

"I won't. Come here, little one," the young man reached towards the child and she looked at him suspiciously. He looked nice enough and his words were soothing but there was a strange edge to his voice. But she couldn't do anything to complain as he lifted her up and grabbed the bag before walking out of the hospital.

Everyone was too busy to notice the small child that belonged to their friends in the arms of a stranger who was heading out of the hospital. All they were focussing on were their patients.

Henry allowed himself a small smile as he strode out into the cool air of the ambulance bay. That had been too easy. See, he knew no one cared about coloured babies. As he passed a bin he dropped the kid's bag in a bin - he wasn't planning on caring for her after all – and vanished into the night.

**Review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN - Hey, guys! Thanks for the feedback! I didn't think so many people would like it. **

**Disclaimer - I don't own any characters from ER! If I did Ray would still have his legs!**

**caramel199012** **- I promise I'll try!**

**Lila Maranz - Thanks! I'm intrigued too and I'm writing the story! Maybe I should've planned beforehand. That's what writers do right? **

**siddika - Thanks! I'll try and write more.**

**abby - Yes Abby and Luka are together. I'm not exactly an Abby/Luka shipper (I still wish Carter had worked) but for the purposes of this story, yes.**

**Historianic - It was a terrible cliffie and I'm sorry. But you have to admit cliffhangers make you want to read on so its all good!**

**ROoMieS - l0VeR - I hate him too, that's why I made him the baddy!**

**Henia1977**** - I hope the Molly is okay too! I have control I know but sometimes I have evil streaks like in my story _Explosion._ Yeah, Frank and Sam shoulda noticed but they were busy.**

**EDITH78**** - Sorry, probably plenty more cliffies to come as well!**

**DocRock06**** - I have updated! Think of it as a present.**

**Lizbertchica**** - I love suspense too! That's why I write it:)  
**

**butterflyswest**** - I need to know too! Any ideas:)**

Neela stood on the roof on top of the hospital sipping at a hot drink that was warming her considerably and giving her the caffeine boost that she so desperately needed to get her through the next three hours until her shift ended. She'd also stocked up on calorie filled donuts that were drowned in sugar. They tasted good and she didn't care how much weight she could gain from eating just one let alone three.

These supplies had taken the edge off her anger towards the man in Exam 3, that and the torrent of colourful swearwords she'd issued to the darkening sky. It had been good to let off steam and now she felt quite relaxed and almost ready to return to the craziness of the ER. Almost.

She would still prefer to stay up on the roof and gaze at the brilliant lights from all the buildings in Chicago contrasting with the now pitch black night sky that was littered with an array of glittering stars. It was so beautiful and she stood staring, too enraptured to move when a chilly wind whipped past and flapped her white coat reminding her of how cold it was in this city in the winter. The only thing she did to warm herself was wrap her hands tighter around the cup in her hands allowing the heat from the liquid to seep through the plastic and into her skin.

"Neela!" A sudden shout roused her from her thoughts and she spun round to see Ray striding towards her a smile on his face.

"Oh, hi," she offered in return.

"I've been looking for you _everywhere_: all over the hospital, the ambulance bay, Ike's, the Jumbo Mart. I was beginning to think that psycho patient had done away with you," Ray arrived by her and gathered her into a tight embrace.

"Sorry, I've been on my break, I did go out for awhile to get some food but then I came here," Neela murmured into his chest revelling in the warmth issuing from his body. He was like a giant cuddly hot water bottle.

"Well, anyway, we're getting slammed downstairs and guess what we forgot?"

"What?" the woman frowned.

"The fact that Angie is going to Seattle and can't look after Molly. She brought her here and I had to get her taken up to day care. I mean both of us are still on shift and we can't just drop it all when it's this crazy."

"Oh crap, sorry, I completely forgot," Neela brought a hand to her mouth, "Well, she'll be okay in day-care won't she? Abby still has Joe up there and they can play together. The terrible twosome reunited."

Neela was referring to the fact that although there was a two year age gap between Joe Kovac and Molly Barnett they got on like a house on fire. They'd hit it off when Molly was being baby sat by Abby as a favour to Neela and now they were practically inseparable. The couples were good friends and tried to let their kids spend as much time as possible together resulting in a very tight bond between the two.

They weren't just best friends though they were pranksters. Joe and Molly made quite a formidable team when it came to causing mayhem. Neela could remember one time, at her birthday just gone, when her daughter was three and Joe was nearly five, they had stolen practically all the food on the table before any one at the party realised. After that they had vanished and were found about half an hour later underneath the double bed in Ray and Neela's room surrounded by empty plates of food and crumbs. What was worse than that however was the fact they seemed to have pilfered several tumblers of beer from the guests.

Molly had been taking a sip of the alcohol as they were discovered and she'd wrinkled her nose in disgust, looking up at Luka who was the one to have found them. "Eeeew….Uncle Luka…..I think someone peed in your apple juice." That had had all the adults cracking up for ages.

Ray placed a kiss on his wife's soft lips and smiled at her. "She'll be fine. The one I'm worried about is you. That guy was a jerk. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Ray, I'm fine, seriously," Neela declared, "It was just a bit unexpected, that's all, I'm alright now."

"Yeah, well people shouldn't be able to treat you like that. It's not right," Ray growled, it was not directed at Neela but at the man and she felt a rush of gratitude for her husband protecting and caring for her.

"If I don't care anymore then neither should you," the resident stated, "Besides, that bastard is being treated by someone else right now so why should we worry?"

"You're right, we shouldn't, we'll probably never see him again."

* * *

Abby trudged up the stairs to the floor where day-care was, she'd finally finished her shift and was glad of it. It had been a crappy day. She's lost three patients, not of her own doing but just because their injuries were too severe for anyone to save them. There had been a little boy crushed by a jet ski after it lost control on Lake Michigan. His name was Lewis. He had kept calling and calling for his dad but Abby hadn't the heart to tell him that his father was DOA – dead on arrival. 

Then there had been Shelly who was a heavily pregnant woman that had been shot at her own home when her husband couldn't pay some gangsters back. She had died as soon as they brought her in and the baby with her.

The last patient she'd had was a teen called Conchi, a pretty girl with plenty of character and aspirations. Unfortunately she had leukaemia and was in the last stage of it with only a few weeks, maybe even days to live. As it turned out it was only a couple of hours before the nurses were placing sheet over her head. In those hours Abby had sat by her bedside despite the fact that the ER had several traumas and talked.

Conchi had told her about the fact that she had wanted to be a doctor and had been planning to go to medical school before she developed the cancer. She told Abby about how her mother had also died from cancer but that was breast cancer and how she wasn't sure whether her father could cope with losing her as well.

Life wasn't fair. Abby thought this bitterly as she turned the corner and spotted the door to day-care. That girl had lost her life so early on when a drunk that binged out on alcohol all the time still had another chance. She pushed the door open and caught sight of Joe, his dark blonde hair flopping over his eyes as he concentrated on placing the end of a plastic stethoscope on a fluffy teddy bear.

"I'm sorry sir but we are going to have to cut off your leg, its broken," the little boy informed the bear. Abby grinned to herself, he sounded like her brother Eric when he'd been younger. She wasn't at all worried by his slightly rash prognosis.

"Hey, Joe," she called softly and her son's head snapped up, his hazel eyes dancing with excitement.

"Mommy!" he jumped up, chucking the teddy on the floor and hurrying over to her, "Have you finished working now? Can we go home? Is Daddy finished too?" The words tumbled out of Joe's mouth in quick succession as he voiced all of his questions.

"Yes, I've finished and we are going home but Daddy isn't coming yet. He still has to look after some sick people."

"Okay," Joe smiled toothily at her, "Can we have pizza?"

"I don't see why not," Abby shrugged before turning to the nurse who was on duty in the day-care and signing her son out. Then she took his hand and grabbed his bag before leaving.

As the two of them headed for the elevator Abby suddenly realised something. Hadn't Ray said something to her in passing about Molly being in day-care? She hadn't been there then. Maybe Ray or Neela had managed to get off shift and take her home. That seemed odd though, after all the ER _was _in chaos and Weaver was on a rampage. Plus, Joe hadn't mentioned anything about his best friend being with him. Usually he would be going on about how Molly did this or that and begging Abby to let her come over with those big puppy eyes she could rarely refuse.

"Joe?"

"Yes, Mommy?"

"Was Molly in day-care with you?"

"No, I thought you said she had a nanny now?" the little boy frowned at her, puzzled.

"She wasn't there?"

"No, that's what I said. I'd have known if Mol was there. She is my bestest friend after all," Joe replied indignantly.

"Oh, okay," Abby said, biting her lip in worry, "Before we go home I'm going to find Uncle Ray, all right?"

"Uh-huh," Joe nodded though he wasn't really listening. He was oblivious to the turmoil going on in his mother's head.

**Duh, duh, duuuh! Whoo! Abby's realised somethings up! Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, here is the next chapter. Thanks for the feedback. I'm sorry but I can't keep doing the review replies there are too many so thanks to all you guys! Glad you don't like Henry, he's evil and that's the point :) Sorry if Ray is a little OOC.**

Looking back, Henry found he slightly regretted his decision, it had been an idea that formed in the heat of the moment and now he had a squalling kid on his hands. He'd slapped her several times but that had only served to make her screech more, the horrible, ear splitting noise filling his basement.

Still, there was nothing he could do now considering he had the child and would be in trouble whether he kept her or not. He was tempted just to kill her now but despite his strong beliefs that all coloured children should be disposed of at birth he still had slight reservations about murdering a defenceless child.

_I shouldn't_, he chided himself, mulling over all the options in his head. He should have the guts to kill her there and then if only to shut the brat up but he didn't – not yet anyway. The very fact that he couldn't bring himself to execute her annoyed him further and made him hate the girl with even more passion.

He laid another vicious slap across her face which stunned her for a moment, silencing her screams. That was before the sharp stinging set in and she began to cry out again. For her Mommy and her Daddy, anyone she could think of.

Henry growled ferociously in the back of his throat and then kicked the kid before ascending the steps out of the basement to continue the life he led above ground. He needed to think of something he could use the child for, some way to make her an example to all coloureds that they weren't welcome here. The man couldn't come up with a plan right then but he was sure he would and it would be good.

* * *

Abby half walked half ran into the ER dragging Joe behind her by the hand. He looked positively baffled by his mother's frantic attitude and didn't like being pulled around like some misbehaving puppy on a leash. To emphasise this point he dug his heels in and whined that he wanted to go home.

"Joe, not right now, I need to find your Uncle Ray," Abby stated, giving her son a hard look.

"But Mommy, why? Why's it so important? Can't you do it later after I've had pizza?" Joe asked looking thoroughly put out.

"No, its very important, Joe." Abby told him before scanning the hospital floor again. She could see Sam and Frank, Chuny and Haleh, a few med students she recognised and…Ray! She finally spotted the tall man leaning nonchalantly against the other side of the admit desk having a conversation with Luka who looked slightly haggard by the endless stream of patients.

"Hey, I can see Daddy," Joe squealed, tugging his small hand free of his mom's grip and hurrying between several adult legs to get to his father.

He reached Luka pretty quickly and grabbed at his trouser leg, looking up into a pair of dark brown eyes. Luka grinned when he saw him and gathered him up in one arm for a hug. Joe giggled as his feet left the floor.

"Joe, what are you doing here? Where's your Mom?"

"She was looking for Uncle Ray. She said it was important. More important than my pizza anyway," the little boy stated pulling a face.

"Aw, nothings more important than pizza, kiddo, I understand where you're coming from," Ray smiled at the child who offered him one in return.

"Well, now we've found you Mommy can talk and then we can go home."

After Joe had made his declaration Abby appeared looked distressed. There was worry in her dark eyes that caught the immediate attention of both men but Joe didn't seem to notice it still. Ray stiffened. Hadn't Joe said she wanted to tell him something? Whatever it was it didn't look good.

"Ray! Where's Molly?" Was the woman's only greeting and the young man looked slightly startled by the abrupt question.

"Huh? She's in day-care. Why?" Ray answered cautiously.

"Shit," Abby whispered but the little boy settled in Luka's strong arms still heard it and his eyes widened momentarily. His mother rarely swore in his company and she always told Uncle Ray off when he did it with either him or Molly around. Maybe something _really_ was wrong.

"What? Abby, what is it? You're seriously freaking me out."

"Did maybe Neela or someone take her out?"

"No," Ray replied slowly, biting his lip, he dreaded where this was going.

"Well, someone must've because she's gone, Ray!"

Ray froze, his green eyes shining with momentary fear as he was struck by such a terrifying piece of news. His little girl was missing. It couldn't be true; not really, it must be some kind of sick elaborate joke. Either that or a simple misunderstanding; Molly was probably hidden in some corner of the day-care sleeping or something.

With that thought in mind the doctor turned and sprinted away from admit towards the stairs by the elevators. Abby watched him go with shock, surprised by his abrupt disappearance. Ray tore up the steps two at a time narrowly missing knocking some poor nurse flying as he skidded at the top and headed down the corridor to day-care.

As he drew closer he was positive she would be there, sucking her thumb like she always did when she was nervous or lonely and then he would be able to gather her into his arms and hug her tightly, stroking her soft dark curls and murmuring loving words in her ear.

However, as he barrelled into the room, severely disturbing an exciting part of the story the carer was telling for story-time, he saw that his daughter was not among the group sitting comfortably on the floor. Several pairs of huge startled eyes stared up at him in confusion.

"Dr. Barnett, what are you doing here?" the carer nurse frowned in puzzlement at the frantic looking man who'd just disrupted her smooth story about the mouse who lived in a shoe.

She knew him from the many times that he or his wife had left their daughter in her care. The little girl was adorable but a proper troublemaker especially if she got together with young Joe Kovac. They were both utterly charming but extremely naughty.

"I…um….er…..Molly hasn't been here has she?" Ray asked hopefully.

"No, she hasn't been here since you last took her out. Why?" the nurse, whose name was Grace questioned curiously.

She saw the doctor's shoulders slump in something akin to defeat and he closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again she could see they were swirling with emotion. Something must be seriously wrong; something to do with Molly.

"She's disappeared, Grace, I don't know where," the man said before turning on his heel and leaving the room. All the kids stared after him with a mixture of fear and bewilderment.

* * *

Whilst Ray was storming down the stairway at top speed, people jumping out of his way left, right and centre, his mind was awhirl with possibilities of what could've befallen his daughter. She could have been taken by a paedophile or some psycho patient, she could have even just wandered out of the hospital but she could easily get squashed by a car. It didn't bear thinking about. Right now though, he needed to find Sam, after all he handed Molly to her so maybe she had some answers.

The resident strode into the admit area and was greeted by the concerned face of Luka who had been checking the board but now turned his attention to his friend and colleague.

"Was she up there?" he asked in his usual accented lilt.

"No," Ray shook his head, face grim, "Have you seen Sam?"

"Over there," Luka jerked a thumb at the nurse who was rifling through some charts. He wondered why Ray would want to talk to her when his child had vanished.

"Hey, Sam!" Ray marched over and grabbed her arm, a slightly wild look in his eyes. He was angry, angry that the simple favour he'd asked the nurse had not been followed through.

"Watch it, Ray, what's up with you?" the woman frowned and ripped her limb from his grip. She paused when she saw the fury in his emerald eyes.

"Where's Molly?" he asked calmly but with an edge to his voice, "I asked you to get her to day-care."

"Ray, I was slammed, you shouldn't have just dumped her on me," Sam retorted, for some reason she felt irritated with the man's accusing words. She hadn't done anything wrong, what was up with him? "I gave her to Frank and told him to get an orderly."

When the young man had turned this he spun on the spot and headed over to where the said older man was gorging himself on sugary doughnuts, spraying the keyboard in front of him with crumbs from the snack.

"Frank, Sam gave you Molly, where is she?"

"Huh?" Frank looked up, confused for a moment, "Oh, right, your spawn. Well, um, an orderly came to take her up to day-care. Why?"

"Because she's not up there. What did this guy look like?"

"Um…." The clerk suddenly seemed to realise the gravity of the situation and mentally cursed himself for not paying attention, "I'm sorry, Barnett, I wasn't really concentrating."

"Great, so you just handed my daughter over to a complete stranger," Ray growled, struggling to keep himself from hitting Frank, instead he punched the desk – hard. It hurt but it relieved some of the frustration.

"Hey, Ray-man, Neela said there was some racist dude in Exam 3 but I can't find him. Has he discharged himself?" Archie Morris' voice floated over the hubbub and Ray's heart almost skipped a beat. Fuck.

**Duh duh duuuh. Sort of another cliffie! Sorry, but I know you guys will forgive me at some point. Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews! Just watched the ER episode where Joe gets hurt! Poor Abby with no Luka! Why isnt he calling?**

Neela wandered casually back into the ER with a spaced out expression on her face. She walked passed both Morris and Luka before she realised anything was wrong. She knew something was up when she saw the pitying, sympathetic looks in their eyes. She could tell from that but also the cops standing at admit deep in conversation with a frazzled looking Ray.

She was surprised by his appearance, hair in disarray and eyes fraught with worry. Usually Ray was immovable about any big deal and could keep his cool. However, she knew he had been in fights in the past and she really hoped this wasn't related to one of these incidents. She thought he reigned in his temper since Molly was born.

The young woman walked over hurriedly and stood beside her husband. "Ray, what's going on? Why are these guys here?" Ray turned to look at her, startled; he hadn't even noticed her presence until she spoke which meant there must be a lot going on in his mind.

"Neela! I've been looking everywhere for you, you just vanished again," Ray stated, an odd look in his eyes. Neela frowned, why did he care particularly where she'd been? She was a grown woman and was independent from him.

"I was taking a child up to ICU; he was recovering after a serious MVA. Why?"

"Because, Neela, there's no easy way of saying this but…." The male doctor closed his eyes for a moment as if he was pondering how exactly to put his words into a sentence without making it seem too blunt. They flashed open again, green irises bright in the intense hospital lights. Neela often wished that their daughter had inherited her father's gorgeous eyes rather than her dull brown ones but Ray always told her that he way preferred Molly with her eyes because they were so adorable. "….Molly, we think she's been abducted."

Whatever Neela had been expecting it most certainly wasn't that. Her whole world froze momentarily. All the thoughts that had been previously been in her head were washed away in a torrent of complete fear and only two words remained outlined in neon lights: 'Molly abducted.' It couldn't be true. No. Who would take her little girl? Why would they want a three year old? When she thought that several more ideas popped into her head and they were not pleasant: to sexually assault, to sell into the slave trade but the most obvious seemed for ransom. How on earth were she and Ray supposed to raise a ransom on their salaries?

"Neela, are you okay?" Ray asked concerned at the fact his wife hadn't spoken in the last few minutes. He could see a range of emotions passing across her face, some of which he was sure he'd experienced when he found out: disbelief, anger, worry.

"H-how?" Neela finally managed to choke out.

"Well, um…we, oh geez Neela this is gonna sound bad but the ER was busy and I needed to find you so I gave Molly to Sam but she had other stuff to do so she gave her to Frank. Frank called for an orderly but it seems whoever took her wasn't an orderly," Ray finished, looking guilty. How could he have been so stupid as to allow his daughter to be shoved around like a parcel? He was her father and he was supposed to look out for her.

"Oh," the young woman whispered her face now blank of emotion.

"And there's something else," Ray was visibly cringing as he said it, "The man, you know the psycho racist in Exam 3? Well, he's gone."

Neela didn't say a word, her jaw firmly locked into place. She knew that if she opened her mouth then she would mostly scream. She needed to get away from the cops that would no doubt be closing in on her like circling vultures, poking her for answers about her daughter's appearance and other questions like that. Neela knew she wouldn't be able to deal with them but Ray could, he knew the answers to all those types of questions. The cops could just ask him.

Right now she needed _out_, she needed some alone time to let the news of Molly's disappearance properly sink in. And the fact that it seemed the most likely suspect was a man that hated all people of her skin colour with a passion. She remembered his exact words about what he thought of her kind '_You are scum; you should have all been drowned at birth'_. She bit her lip at the implications of that sentence.

With her mind still on that, Neela spun on the spot and half ran half walked from Ray's guilty eyes and the cops blank faces.

"Neela, hey, where you going?" Ray shouted after her.

"I need a moment Ray! Don't you get that?!" Neela yelled back, not even turning her head. She didn't want him to see the tears that were now rapidly falling down her cheeks, she needed to be strong. She'd only ever broken down in front of him once and that was after Michael's death. Molly wasn't dead; she needed to keep it together.

* * *

As he watched his wife vanish into a crowd of people in the waiting room Ray was tempted to go after her, to comfort her and hold her in his arms. But that was obviously not what she wanted. She needed a moment. He understood why, she blamed him; she didn't want to see him because he'd lost their daughter. The fierce guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders. If Molly was hurt or even killed he would never forgive himself and he doubted whether Neela would either. He was sure that if Molly wasn't found safe and sound it would be the end of their marriage.

"Sir, we're going to try the AMBER Alert but it's quite likely that the man will have already gone into hiding. There is also the chance that a ransom note comes so make sure you tell us if you do receive one, don't do anything rash," one of the cops told the distraught doctor, placing a comforting hand on his arm. The man's name was Kevin Lew and he had been part of the police department for four years now. He'd dealt with several kidnap cases but each one of those had ended tragically, he hoped this wouldn't be the same. "Um…Dr Barnett, do you have a photo we could use of your daughter for the broadcast?"

"Huh….oh, yeah, right," Ray nodded and dug out his wallet. In it was a photo of Molly. It was strange; he'd never thought he would be one of those people with a picture of their kids in their wallets. He thought it was clichéd and old but the truth was it was reassuring to have the picture. That way your child seemed sort of with you all the time.

The photo he produced was a bit tatty around the edges but still in pretty good condition. It was a picture of Molly as a two year old sitting on a swing. She was grinning madly, her teeth white and sparkling in the summer sun, contrasting to her beautifully olive complexion. Her dark curls unfurled around her head, flying in wind. Her chocolate coloured eyes were bright and happy, glinting with mischief.

"Cute kid," the other officer commented looking at the picture as it was handed over.

"When do I get it back?" Ray queried, it was his favourite snap and he didn't want to lose it.

"After we've scanned it and got a few copies you can have it right back," Kevin informed him, "We'll be in contact. We might need you to do a small speech about your daughter at some point. But don't worry, not yet."

"All right," Ray replied but he didn't look that enthused about going on the television and making a statement. To be honest he thought that was tacky and too over the top. He hated watching women bawling about their lost kids but now he knew how they felt.

"Come on, Walt," Kevin gestured for his colleague to follow him and they left.

* * *

Neela leant against the basin in the lady's restroom. Her tears had pretty much all dried up and she was left feeling exhausted and spent. She still hadn't been home and had a proper meal or a decent night's sleep so no wonder she was feeling so overemotional. Well, there was that and another reason. The reason she'd spent so long in ICU when she hadn't actually been there. She'd been in OB having an ultrasound.

She had been concerned when she missed her period and had suspected that maybe it was just a bit out of cycle. However, when it still didn't come she decided to take a pregnancy test and sure enough it had come out positive. Neela had been both excited and a little anxious because she was on the pill and shouldn't have been able to conceive. She and Ray had agreed that after Molly they would wait awhile before trying again. It seemed that fate had different plans though. That was the reason she hadn't told Ray yet, because she wasn't sure how he'd react. Their lives were pretty hectic at the moment what with Molly and their busy jobs.

She was now ten weeks pregnant and had just had her first ultrasound. It had been wonderful, seeing the tiny heart beating steadily away.

She had been planning on breaking the news some time today but now didn't feel the right time to tell Ray considering the fact that their daughter was missing and there was a lunatic racist on the loose. There would be time after; she was sure, time after they had found Molly safe and alive.

**Yeah, um...REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long update. Shorter chapter this time. Thanks for all the reviews and support. It's half-term, no school for a week and I've done all my exams for now!**

Molly huddled further into the corner of the darkened basement. She was freezing cold and had nothing but a thin sweatshirt to shield her from the low temperature in the below ground room. The little girl shivered uncontrollably and clutched her toy frog closer to her chest. She wasn't just shaking because of the cold but also because she was scared out of her mind. Molly wanted her mom and dad. She longed for the warmth of their touch and the comforting sound of their voices. Down here she was alone, alone and terrified with only that horrible man for company when he came down on occasion.

There was Rory though, her soft frog that was now rather grubby and damp with the tears he had absorbed. He was her sole companion. She'd had him since she was six months old and he went practically everywhere with her. The mean man that had brought her here had tried to take him away but she hadn't allowed it; she'd kicked and screamed for all she was worth until he gave up figuring the hassle wasn't worth it.

She didn't know what he wanted with her but it couldn't be good considering he'd taken her from the hospital to wherever she was now. He hit her too and it hurt. Mommy had taught Molly never to hit people because it was bad and so that was another reason she knew her captor was not a nice person.

Molly's stomach rumbled hungrily and she realised that she hadn't eaten anything since the pasta hoops Angie, her nanny, had given her for dinner. They seemed a long time away now and she doubted whether the nasty man would be feeding her. It was dark now; well, darker then it had been earlier which meant it must be night time by Molly's childlike estimation. Way past her bedtime too.

* * *

The police had searched everywhere around the hospital for more evidence. The only thing they had found out was the discarded bag in the garbage full of Molly's stuff. That didn't help them much but at least they had some DNA from whoever the kidnapper was for future reference. They'd also followed up on their only suspect, the racist in Exam 3. On his chart it stated his name was Tim Gallagher but it seemed that that and his personal details were fake. The address he'd given didn't even exist.

They had taken statements from a lot of the hospital staff and managed to persuade Ray to make a brief appearance in front of a camera for an appeal. Neela was yet to make any comment on the situation as no one could find her. Ray was getting concerned. He kept having images of her also being taken by whoever had abducted Molly and then the criminal killing them both. It made his heart clench at the thought and he desperately asked several of his colleagues to look for her.

Fortunately, Neela was found by Abby who had left Joe in the lounge to go on the search. The little boy was overtired and frustrated. He had wanted to go home and he couldn't understand why there were so many police officers around and why his mommy and Uncle Ray were talking to them. He had constantly tugged on Abby's sleeve for attention until she had snapped at him and told him to go play in the Doctor's Lounge.

* * *

Because several of the doctors and nurses had children there was a box in the corner of the lounge filled with a variety of brightly coloured plastic toys to entertain them should they get dropped at the ER. Joe wasn't interested in those however; he never did really like rattles or toy cars. He preferred books or creating his own games with Molly. Considering Molly wasn't here he decided on books. Scanning the room he immediately spotted the bookshelf full of lots of medical books. He didn't particularly care that they weren't in his reading capability.

Wandering over to the shelves he reached out and tugged the biggest book he could find off the rack and it fell with a loud _thump_ on the floor. Joe jumped slightly before shrugging and collapsing on the carpet beside the huge volume. With his legs sprawled out beneath him he leant forward and with all his strength managed to lift the thick cover to unveil the pages full of tiny words that were way too complicated for him. The book was about different ailments and had graphic pictures on the pages opposite the writing. Joe looked at those instead.

"Rum-mat-ic fev-er," he read the condition on the page he had flipped too with some difficulty. The words meant nothing to him but the small boy hardly cared; he had a book! A big book!

* * *

"Neela, where have you been? Ray's been worried sick. Hell, I was getting concerned when it looked as if you hadn't just popped out for a bagel," Abby announced putting an arm round her friend. Neela looked pretty rough, she noted, but then again that's probably what losing a kid did to you.

"Sorry, I just had to go think on my own, you know?" the British woman stated in a small voice, she was grateful for Abby's comforting touch.

"This has to be hard on you Neela but you know what? It would be a helluva lot easier to cope with Molly's disappearance with Ray by your side," Abby said and then saw the look on her colleague's face, "Wait, before you jump in with all that 'I'm independent' crap. Its not just you who needs him, he needs you too."

"I guess," Neela nodded understandingly.

"Now, come down to the ER so we can put him out of his misery."

"All right," the smaller woman agreed and followed Abby down the corridor to the elevator.

"By the way, what were you doing up here anyway?" Abby gestured to the OB sign.

"Nothing just needed somewhere quiet."

* * *

Ray had to admit he was extremely relieved to see Neela back safe. With her presence he immediately felt that somehow all of this would be okay and Molly would be home soon. He offered her one of the grins he reserved for her only and was ecstatic to receive a small one in reply. Walking towards her he gave reached out and gave her a tight hug, holding her as close as he could.

"She'll be okay Neela, I know she will," he whispered in his wife's ear.

"Dr. Barnett, we've found out the real identity of the man," Wat suddenly appeared with a solemn look on his face, "His name is Henry Butcher. He's twenty-six, born in Ohio. He's been arrested on several charges of racial abuse but none of them ever stuck. We don't have his most recent address though."

"Several cases of racial abuse? Like what?" Neela asked, pulling away from Ray and dreading the answer.

"Um…." Wat looked uncomfortable, "He attacked a young man when he was twenty and put him in hospital with three broken ribs and severe concussion. And another time he ran over a black youth. He claimed this was an accident however and it was never taken any further even though he had obvious motives."

"What happened to the kid?"

"He died."

**Duh, duh, duuuh! Sorry to leave you there but I won't update til at least Monday! I'm away!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for not updating, had loads on this week. Thanks for the reviews. Just so you know the italics are going to be memories throughout the story.**

Henry swirled the knife in his hand deep in thought as he paused in his action of chopping some carrots ready for his meal. He was still mulling over ideas over what to do with his little guest in his basement. There were several. He could just murder her and get rid of the evidence and then maybe flee the state so the cops would never find him. That wouldn't get him what he wanted though, there was no pleasure in that, no glory. If he followed that plan it would seem as if he had been driven away by the coloureds and that wasn't right, they should run from him.

Another idea was that he could draw out the process of killing her by slowly chopping off different bits of her body and sending them to those repulsive parents. That way he could get a pleasure out of their reactions when they discovered their daughter's arm on their doorstep. Somehow that seemed too crude though, too dim-witted.

The last option was a ransom, that way he would gain something from all his trouble: money. Something, if he was being honest with himself, he needed dearly right now. He couldn't get a job and he knew it was people like that Indian doctor that were at fault. They'd stolen all the good decent paying posts and left him and other white people with the crappy ones. It wasn't fair.

If he chose the last option then he could take that couple for all they were worth. However, there were two problems with that idea. One was that Henry had seen all the telly programs and movies where the kidnapper was tricked by the parents because they had police waiting to ambush them as soon as they got near the money. He didn't want that happening to him; he had avoided jail this long and had no plans to go there. The other problem was that, yet again, it wouldn't get him enough publicity; the kid would still be left to grow up and become part of the increasing coloured community. It wouldn't give the message to all the blacks and Asians out there that they weren't welcome. Henry needed to do something to the brat that would have an impact on her for the rest of her life – both mentally and physically. But what?

Torture.

* * *

Ray and Neela had gone back to their apartment. It was a different one to the one they had first shared before they fell in love. That had been too small and pokey when Molly had come along so they decided to find a bigger place. This apartment was still close to the hospital and even closer to Abby and Luka's house. They enjoyed having the other couple as nearby neighbours that they could visit whenever they wanted.

Their home had two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room with a kitchen joined to it. It was incredibly similar to the last apartment but everything was bigger and brighter. Also, in this house, rather than musical instruments and beer cans littering the floor there were colourful books and toys that had been played with and then discarded by Molly.

Molly's own bedroom had been decorated by Ray and Neela when she was about five months pregnant.

"_Ray, I don't want it to be pink, I mean I know it's a girl but I've always hated that colour," Neela admonished when she saw the streak of paint that her husband had brushed on the wall._

"_Why? I thought that's what all little girls liked," Ray frowned, looking at his handwork._

"_You're just stereotyping," the small woman sighed and grabbed the brush from his sticky hand._

"_Hey, there is no way I'm letting you decorate the nursery in your condition."_

"_My condition?" Neela looked at Ray with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip._

"_Sorry, that came out wrong," the man backtracked sheepishly, eyeing the brush in his wife's hand that was dripping bright pink paint._

"_I'm glad you think so. I reckon…that it should be yellow. That's a nice bright colour: happy and summery." _

"_Okay, well I'll have to go get the paint," Ray nodded heading towards the door._

"_Hey, Ray…"_

_The young man turned at the sound of Neela's voice and found, much to his shock, that a huge glob of paint splattered across his face. The pink liquid mingled with his tousled hair and littered his face with colourful speckles._

"_Right, pregnant or not, you're for it!" Ray growled and grabbed a brush of his own._

The room had turned out as Neela wanted, not too girly but cheerful and pleasant. Two of the walls were quite a bright yellow whereas the other two were plain white to make the overall affect less overwhelming. However, on the white walls were a series of multicoloured handprints supplied by none other that Joe Kovac. They made a sort of trail up the wall in primary colours. The bed covers and curtains were also rainbow coloured. Matching wooden furniture lined the edges of the room: a closet, a miniature desk, a mirror and the bed of course. Also scattered around the room were some red, green and blue boxes filled with both plastic and cuddly toys.

Neela was looking into the room at that moment, she didn't want to go in, it made her want to burst into tears. She wanted to pretend that if she left it exactly as Molly had that afternoon then maybe her daughter would suddenly reappear and start playing like she usually did. On the floor was a series of crayon pictures that had been recently drawn and a couple of teddy bears propped up against the foot of the bed having some kind of tea party. Molly obviously shared her father's disregard for cleanliness.

With a deep breath Neela managed to shuffle slowly into the room so she could look at the drawings strewn on the carpet. The first one to catch her eye was of a stick man and a stick woman and in the middle was a smaller figure. It was the drawing that every child once in their lifetime would create. A family portrait that bore no resemblance to the people it was based on but still held a significant meaning anyway. Each stickperson was labelled in Molly's scrawl: _Mommy_, _Daddy_ and _Molly_.

When Molly had gotten to the stage of speech and forming her first words Neela wasn't sure whether she wanted her daughter to call her Mummy or Mommy. She was half English after all and Neela wanted to make sure she hung onto some of those roots. For instance she insisted on calling some things by their English equivalent such as the sidewalk being a pavement and diapers being nappies. It was just something she wanted her daughter to incorporate into her otherwise all American lifestyle. In the end she decided that although she would've preferred Mummy it was easier for her daughter to learn Mommy as that was obviously what all her friends would be doing in kindergarten and from then on.

The next picture that she caught sight of was titled _Best_ _Friends_ and beneath was a picture of a girl, her sex determined by her long dark hair and the other of a boy. They were standing on what seemed to be a lot of green squiggles that Neela interpreted as grass. Each figures' stick arm was extended to the other and they were joined in the middle. These people were labelled:_ Molly _and _Joe_.

As she was scanning these pictures Neela became aware of someone watching her and she looked up to see Ray standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Do you want something to eat?" he queried softly.

"No," Neela shook her head, she was certain that should she try and eat something then her stomach would rebel violently.

"Well, if you do get hungry then there's some leftover pizza in the refrigerator," Ray said obviously scrutinising his wife's face for her emotions.

"Thanks," Neela whispered before climbing up from her crouched position. She was suddenly aware that there was something about the way Ray was holding himself and his blank face that was odd. He must know something. "Has anyone called? Have the police found anything?"

"There's a ransom note been left at the station."

**Duh duuuh duuuh! Sorry bout the torture bit! Needed to up the tension even more!**


	7. Chapter 7

The little girl's screams echoed terribly round the dark empty basement. It was a horrific sight, to see a child in such pain. Henry had gotten over his initial reluctance in causing any harm to the youngster and just dove right in with his chose path of action.

He hadn't been quite sure what to do that could mark the child for the rest of her life short of hacking off a limb. That would surely disable and disfigure her for the rest of her life. However, that could be explained away too easily with a simple lie such as a car accident. It needed to be a specific scar and what better way to do that then carve it directly onto the brat's skin?

His final choice for a word to cut into Molly's back was _abomination _because that was what he viewed her as. She was scum on the earth and should not be alive. It was quite long too so would be more painful overall.

Molly screamed again, the sound ripped seemingly right from her lungs as she squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking from between her closed lids. She could feel the warmness and stickiness of her blood dripping from the newly sliced wounds down her back. It was agony, she would do anything for it to stop but no matter how hard she struggled the harder the evil man pushed her down crushing her ribs.

She had never experienced such a twisting, burning pain in her life. This didn't even compare to the time she'd fallen off the climbing frame and broken her arm.

* * *

_Ray sat talking to Luka on a wooden bench. It was a beautiful day, the sun was blazing high in the sky and there wasn't a cloud in sight to blemish the perfect turquoise heavens. A couple of tall trees shaded the two men from most of the heat so it wouldn't become intolerable in the midday sun._

_In front of them were a colourful climbing frame and a few swings. There were some small children toddling around on the floor being chased after by their frantic moms. A few of the bigger kids were scaling the metal bars of the jungle gym fighting their way to the top. _

_The two men were probably the only fathers there considering it was a week day and most guys were at work. However, encouraged by their wives, Ray and Luka had used their day off to take the kids to the park for a picnic and a run around. Joe and Molly were running around the park at that moment still on a high from the ice creams they'd just devoured from the van._

"_I'm Obi Wan Kenobi," Joe informed Molly as the two of them began clambering up the netting that led to a metal platform. _

"_Who's he?" Molly queried confusion clear in her dark chestnut eyes._

"_Have you not seen Star Wars?" the small boy asked incredulously miming a lightsaber and making the noises as he swished it._

"_No," Molly shook her head her in puzzlement her curly raven hair swirling about her shoulders._

"_Oh," Joe looked put out for a moment, "Well, you can be Darth Vader."_

"_I don't wanna be Darth Thay-der."_

"_Well, who do you wanna be then?" Joe retorted. Molly paused in her climbing for a moment and thought back to the very few film and television programmes she'd seen in her short life. Usually in her home they listened to music rather than watched television. She'd seen 'The Lion King' several times, that was her favourite film but other than that she couldn't think of any. Then she remembered something her mom occasionally liked to watch because she had it on DVD. Her father mocked it but even he sometimes got into the show._

"_I wanna be the Doctor," Molly declared._

"_Doctor Who?" Joe frowned, his dark eyebrows knotting in a perplexed expression. For that statement he received a triumphant giggle from his friend._

"_It's from England." _

"_Oh," Joe shrugged, "Doctor! I challenge you to a duel!" _

_The two children finally reached the top and began walking along the monkey bars. As Molly shuffled backwards on the rungs parrying imaginary blows from Joe she misjudged her footing and found herself falling through empty space. She tried in vain to rebalance by wind milling her arms but it had little effect. There was sickening crunch as she hit the ground._

_Ray looked up from his conversation with Luka just in time to see his daughter slipping off the jungle gym. It all happened in slow motion to him and it took him a moment to react once Molly landed but then he was up on his feet and straight over._

_By the time he arrived Molly was already sitting up clutching her arm and trying to prevent herself from crying. She was being extremely stoical as she didn't like crying in front of her father. _

"_Hey, sweetie, what happened there?" Ray knelt down beside the little girl taking in her trembling lip and the tears threatening to escape from her eyes, "Where does it hurt?"_

"_My arm and my head," Molly whispered. _

_They'd attracted quite a crowd: Joe had swung down from the monkey bars and Luka had appeared by his friend's side, several anxious mothers had also gathered peering at the girl worriedly._

"_Shall I call 911?" one of them asked._

"_No, its okay, we are doctors," Luka informed her, "But could we have some space please?" After he said that most of the women dispersed muttering among themselves._

"_Let me see your arm, honey," Ray gently took hold of Molly's limb and inspected it. It was bent at an unnatural angle and definitely broken. The young man was extremely proud of his daughter for being so brave. "Come on then, Mol, let's get you to the hospital."_

_With that Ray bent over and scooped Molly into his arms and headed for their car which was parked a little way outside the park. Luka followed, picking up their bags on the way out with Joe clutching at his hand._

"_Your arm looks funny," the small boy informed his friend sincerely._

"_Thanks for that, Joe," Luka sighed.

* * *

_

Neela inspected the ransom note over and over not quite believing the sum of money it demanded. It was ridiculous, this guy must've seen they were just doctors and not millionaires, he saw how shabby the hospital was after all.

_Dear Scum and Scum's Husband,_

_As you may have already noticed I have your daughter. If you haven't then it shows just how unimportant coloured kids really are, doesn't it? Now, this brat is already driving me up the wall so I would do what I want and do it real quick otherwise I may lose my temper faster than anticipated. _

_I want you to give me the sum of $850,000 and then I will give you your child back. However there is no guarantee she'll be unharmed or even in one piece. I want this money by the end of next week or I'll execute her. I would say don't get the cops involved but you probably already have. However, if there is any funny business I'll cut your youngster's throat._

_Further details of drop off and pick up points will be given at a later date._

_Nice doing business with you, you filthy bitch._

**Sorry bit short! Review!**


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